Antenna



J. L. STEWART Feb. 3, 1959 ANTENNA Filed April 5, 1956 INVENTOR. jf SWand y fly ANTENNA Jack L. Stewart, Ashtabula, Ohio, assignor to TheAntenna Specialists Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of OhioApplication April 5, 1956, Serial No. 576,281

2 Claims. (Cl. 343-805) This invention relates in general to antennaconstructions, and relates more particularly to television antennaconstructions, particularly of the indoor type associated with areceiving set.

An object of this invention is to provide an antenna construction whichmay be stored in an out of sight position in relationship to a receivercabinet, and may be extended to an operation position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a mounting bracketpositionable on the back of a receiving set cabinet, and an antennaswivelably mounted by said bracket for movement between a storageposition extending downwardly behind such cabinet and a service positionextending upwardly above such cabinet.

A still further object of this invention is to provide the swivelablymounted antenna with a composite base wherein each component of the basecarries a separate antenna member and is independently rotatable, andthe entire base is swivelably carried by the bracket to determine therotatable position of the antenna.

And a further object of this invention is to provide a split ball baseof two parts independently rotatable with respect to one another about acommon axis, each with an antenna rod, and the ball base swivelablymounted by a bracket member, for universal selective positioning of theantenna rods in signal receiving positions or in storage.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the preferred embodiment of theantenna as employed with a television re ceiver, the mounting bracketbeing in side elevation; and,

Figure 2 is an elevational view taken at 90 degrees with respect toFigure 1, showing the back of the swivel mounting bracket.

The type of television antenna iliustrated in the drawing is thepreferred embodiment of the invention. Although applicable to radioantennas, this invention finds its greatest usefulness in connectionwith television receiver sets. The illustrated type of antenna isgenerally referred to as a rabbit ear type of antenna. Originally suchrabbit ear antennas were free standing and were placed on the top of thetelevision receiver cabinet. Such antennas have been employed in goodreception areas where outdoor antennas are not required, However, thefree standing antenna has not found favor among users because of itsconsumption of cabinet top space. Although such antenna devices are notparticularly unattractive, they are not necessarily an addedattractiveness to the cabinet, and thus another factor is involved inthe reluctance to accept such a free standing antenna device.

At least one effort has been made to overcome the objections of thecabinet associated antenna by providing a well within the cabinet havingan opening from the top of the cabinet and having a carriage carryingthe antenna members between a recessed hidden position within the atentwell and an active position extended therefrom. However, such a built-indevice requires every set to be equipped with the facilities forproviding this storage type of antenna and therefore increases costs tothe manufacturer by reason of providing each and every receiving setwith facilities which may be used only in certain areas. Furthermore, anindividual owner cannot install such a built-in devi e in a set he nowowns.

The present invention provides an antenna device having first and seconddiverging antenna rods carried by a base member with means mounting theantenna rods on the base member and a mount swivelably mounting the basemember on the back of a receiver cabinet. The first and second divergingantenna rods are independently rotatable about a common axis withrespect to one another and the common axis is universally swivelable inorder to position the antenna rotation planes in any desired location.Thus, the antenna rods may be extended upwardly and then spread apartwith respect to one another for service use, and then may be swivelledto a downward position behind the receiver cabinet for storagecompletely out of sight. In some instances it is possible to use theantenna with the rods extending downwardly behind the receiving set.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is intended primarily fortelevision use and therefore comprises an antenna member 10 composedgenerally of a composite base and antenna rods carried thereby. Thecomposite base consists of a half ball member 11 and a half ball member12. The half ball members 11 and 12 are keyed together for rotationabout a common axis and with a common interface. The two half ballmembers therefore jointly define a common sphere wherein one half of thesphere is independently rotatable with respect to the other half butabout a common axis.

The half ball members 11 and 12 are keyed together by means of an axialpin. The pin can be very short and quite large in diameter, andaccordingly have the appearance of a disc or washer, or the pin may bemore conventional wherein it has a longer axial dimension than thediameter. In either event, however, it is in fact a pin about which thetwo halves 11 and 12 may rotate in keyed relationship,

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention both a washer and alongitudinal pin are employed. The reason for both devices is more thana composite keying or an effort to show both possibilities. Forconvenience of manufacture the half ball members 11 and 12 are molded intwo-part molds. It is convenient in such molding to create antenna whipsockets by provision of a protrusion surface on the face of one part ofsuch mated mold. Therefore, assembly of an antenna whip into the halfmold section may take place by simply laying the base of the antennalaterally into such socket. In this pre ferred embodiment of theinvention, a circular recess is provided in the face of each half ballmember and the holding sockets are recessed from the bottom of suchcircular recessed surfaces. Accordingly, the antenna device may beprovided with mechanically held antennas. The illustrated embodiment ofthe invention employs telescoping type of antenna rods 14- and 15. Inassembly, a rod is positioned with the base thereof in the socket of ahalf ball member and held in position by light friction therebetween.When a rod is placed in each of the provided sockets, a non-conductingwasher 13 is placed between the two half ball members and the two halfball members closed together into a composite ball construction. Thus,the antenna rods 14 and 15 are held into base holding sockets within thehalf ball members as long as the two half ball members are held togetherinto a composite spherical form. The washer 13 serves as a guide andtrack to hold the half ball members mutually revolvable about a commonaxis, and also serve the purpose of holding both of the antenna rods 14and within their respective sockets in the half ball members 11 and 12but without causing an electrical short.

However, as previously suggested, whenever the holding and guiding pinis of such a short length and great diameter that it may be referred toas a disc or washer, then there is danger of the pin being misplacedfrom between the half ball members. For example, if the operator shouldplace a lateral force upon the antenna rods 14 and 15, the half ballmembers could be forced apart and the washer 13 allowed to fall frombetween the half ball members. Accordingly, it is preferable to have alongitudinal pin whether or not the insulating washer 13 is employed tohold the antenna rods 14 and 15, or whether these antenna rods aresecurely mounted in drilled sockets or other types of holding means. Inthe illustrated embodiment of the invention, together with theinsulating washer 13, there is shown the. preferable type of pivot pin16 which extends axially through the mated half ball sections and formsthe axis upon which the half ball members may rotate with respect to oneanother. Such a longitudinal pivot pin 16 is not dislodged by a tendencyof the half ball members 11 and 12 to pull away from their mutualinterface.

The assembly includes a bracket for holding the composite half ballmembers in such a manner that they may be universally swivelled in themounting bracket. The bracket is indicated generally by the referencecharacter 20. Preferably, as illustrated, bracket 20 is composed of amain leaf 21 which has a cupped end 22 serving as a gripping and bearingsurface for the composite ball base of the antenna member. The oppositeend of the main leaf 21 is formed as a mounting end 23 to abut the backside of a cabinet. A cabinet is indicated by the phantom outline 17.Suitable screw holes 24 are provided to physically attach the main leaf21 to such cabinet. The main leaf 21 is indicated as extending in anupright position. Such upright position somewhat limits the verticalstorage of the rods 14 and 15 when they are extended downwardly behindthe cabinet, although complete concealment of the rods is obtained.Accordingly, if desired, the bracket 20 may be extended laterally bypositioning the main leaf 21 in a horizontal position. Generally,however, the upright position illustrated is to be preferred.

The bracket 20 also employs a pivoted leaf 25 which is physicallyattached to the main leaf 21 by means of a tab 18 of the leaf 25extending into a receiving notch 19 through the sloping portion of themain leaf 21. The pivoted leaf 25 is also provided with a cupped end 26.

The main leaf 21 and the pivoted leaf 25 are caused to clamp upon thecomposite base formed by the two half ball members by means of a bolt 27and a wing nut 28. As will readily be appreciated, a reasonably snuggrip of the bracket device 20 upon the composite ball base of theantenna member will thereby provide sufficient frictional resistance tomovement to allow the composite base to be swivelled in any desiredposition not blocked by the actual physical construction of the bracket.The antenna rods 14 and 15 may also be rotated with respect to one .4another about the axis pin 16 while clampingly held by the bracket 20-.

Although the antenna is illustrated only in the upright position in thedrawing, the independent positioning of rods 14 and 15 with respect toone another and the ability to completely swivel the two rods into adownwardly extending storage position will be readily understood withoutfurther illustration.

To make a complete and workable device, of course, a lead cable 29 ofconventional construction employed for television sets may be connectedto the individual rods 14 and 15. Such cable 29 embodies two accuratelyspaced lead wires 30 and 31 which may be independent- 15 led through thehalf ball members 11 and 12 and connected by a suitable socketconnection to the ends of the antenna rods 1 and 15.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details'of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

I claim:

1. A television antenna comprising, a composite spherical base composedof first and second spherical sections, each said first and secondsection having a crosssection flat face, said fiat faces abutted asmutual hearing surfaces, means interlocking said sections for relativerotation with respect to one another around a common axis, first andsecond antenna rods carried by said first and second sectionsrespectively, and a mount, said mount comprising frictional grip memberswith means applying said grip members upon the exterior surfaces of thefirst and second sections respectively in a direction to urge the saidmutual bearing surfaces together, said mount frictionally engagingwithsufficient force to hold the composite base in any selected pivotalposition.

2. A television antenna comprising, a composite spherical base composedof first and second spherical sections, each said first and secondsection having a crosssection flat face, said flat faces abutted asmutual bearing surfaces, means interlocking said sections for relativerotation with respect to one another around a common axis,

- first and second antenna rods carried by said first and secondsections respectively, and a mount, said mount comprising first andsecond grip members having smooth bearing surfaces seated upon thespherical surfaces of the first and second sections respectively overopposite ends of the said common axis of rotation, and means to urgesaid first and second grip members against said composite base with aslippable gripping force.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,259,628 Fener et al Oct. 21, 1941 2,565,661 Lidz Aug. 28, 19512,604,593 Trowbridge July 22, 1952 2,753,557 Middlemark July 3, 1956

